Our event, Dec 2nd. Sun Villages' first "Mud Fun" musical mud stomp performance danced our new stove pictured above, into existence.Before anyone arrived, several of us started sifting the rocks out of the pure, clean, clay-rich subsoil mud which had been soaking for over a week and was a bright reddy red brown colour. At 6 o Clock sharp - the drummers began to drum while the barefoot mud stompers began stomping their moves to the West African rhythms. Audience members watched on.-among them were a few people from the neighbourhood who had seen the signs posted on the street. Some were inspired to take off their socks and shoes and join in on the mud stomping. By 6.20, all the mud was thoroughly mixed and the “mudsters” began building the wood-fired stove (shown on this newsletter) at a frenetic pace. The rough version of the stove (pre smooth plaster) was done in about 3 minutes flat, which was followed by an applause from the audience. Sun Villages' first "Mud Fun" musical mud stomp performance was over and we need to do this again while the weather is warm. Then everyone got cleaned up and went inside for the presentations. Greg’s presentation included the 6 different phases of investor offers which are: Phase 1- to secure land which is now closed, phase 2 - to fund pre-construction costs which is almost closed, phases 3-5 - to fund construction (3-underground and foundation, 4- up to lock up, then 5-fit out.) and then the 6th and final phase to sell the remainder of the shares up to the value of the property. Nilmini and Steve shared a glimpse of their life on the road since we saw them last 6 months ago and the work they do thru www.polisplan.com.au promoting and creating new ways to live. They spoke of closed-loop, zero-waste communities of the future and of how the internet is changing our attitudes towards valuing access over ownership, and how these attitudes are finding their way into the home space. They spoke of how new models like Sun Villages are needed to provide us with more freedom and security. Garry talked about how he was going to engineer cost savings into the project including the "co-generation plant" that will be onsite, and how that and other measures will also make it attractive for those who work from home. Lauren talked about how and why she is keen to help take the Sun Villages product to market, specifically to people like her, looking for ethical ways to invest money and make a social impact. through self managed super funds or other funds. Penny talked about OWLs, a key group of people that Sun Villages can provide a social impact for, (and how she would like to help get the word out about Sun Villages) and Stina talked more about the relevance of people density to social sustainability - which in a practical sense is shown by the need to have enough people living nearby to support a cafe business. At some stage in the evening she talked about the importance of having people like Steve and Nilmini come through and share information from afar. I have video footage of the presentations which I will make available to those that missed out and want to watch. Let me know.The Sun Villages website has been updated here and here with some video footage that was captured before and after the presentations. After the presentations, we fired up the new clay-mud-earthen masonry stove and cooked and shared the food that people had brought and many discussions ensued. Before the night was over, Gretchen (a financial planner and accountant with skills and experience that can help Sun Villages at this point) sang us a jazz song and before the weekend was over we discovered that Nlimini and Steve had each written books that some of us just had to add to our libraries. Cedar and her mob of three little ones came back to help plaster or render the stove with smooth sifted mud mixed with the fluff of the Bullrush or Kombunji reed.

The venue (the house) was pretty much over full capacity and so it was noted that we will need a larger space for future events. We are keeping our eyes and ears open for the right space.

----------------------------------------------------------A community Vs a Village. In one of the discussions after the presentations, a distinction was made between a community and a village which our co-founder Stina said is important to differentiate ourselves from other projects that look and feel similar. The connotation and reality with many communities listed on the Fellowship of Intentional Communities that we are also listed on, is that members are required to participate is certain activities or hold certain beliefs in common. Therefore, Sun Villages wants to make clear that all the "community" aspects will be optional to residents and the social spaces will be funded by a user pay model. Stina will be taking personal financial responsibility for these spaces until such time as they are able to generate enough revenue to cover their associated costs.

In another discussion, one person said that she would like to know more about the difference between investing in mainstream real estate and investing into Sun Villages. This is a important question because Sun Villages is a new model which means that people won't be able to go home and talk to their family and friends to get a more in-depth explanation. The only way it can be explained more clearly is here. In a future newsletter I will ask some of the founding members to answer this question better but for now, here's my take. Firstly Sun Villages is intentionally breaking away from the established set of norms around housing that we have become used to. This set of norms, also called the status quo is maintained and continued by each of us repeating what we see other people do. Mimicking established norms makes us feel good because it is part of socialisation, but that alone does not necessarily mean its actually doing us any good. It has been proven that we will continue mimicking each other even when there is no benefit and there’s a popular video on youtube which illustrates and explains this. With regards to housing and real estate investment, the established norms of course involve borrowing money from banks who own the deed until the mortgage is fully paid and then continuing to pay them with interest until that time. The homepage of the Sun Villages website points out that there are lots of extra costs that have become part of the equation in this existing home ownership model. Enter Sun Villages asking rhetorically, "isn't there a better way to do this?" What if we could make things simpler and less expensive and then use the money we save to create further ongoing savings/reduced costs thru smart design measures? Before going into this, let's look at the existing model, which has rewarded many people financially. People who bought a home in the 80s for $100,000 are able to sell them now for $1 million dollars and set themselves up for retirement. And that’s good for them. The downside to the wider community, is that wages have not risen at the same rate as real estate and so only people with very high incomes can afford to buy these homes. A downside for those selling their million dollar house is that they often have to move away to where homes are cheaper in order to be able to fund their retirement. For some, by the time they pay back what they owe on their house and other debts, there is not enough left to buy a home and they become part of the growing numbers of retirees who live in caravan parks.often because they have no other choice available to them. This is a vulnerable place to be in as residents do not own the land or shares or units in the land and they do not have fixed long term leases. (like at Sun Villages) The upward spiral in real estate costs relative to wages has squeezed many out of the market they wish to be a part of. It is being commonly stated now that most young people coming out of school will never be able to afford a home. This problem is driving creative types to pioneer new solutions. For those that have land, solutions include: granny flats, home additions and “tiny homes”. For others, new companies like Brick X,Crowdfundup and Domacom are popping up and enabling people to buy and sell shares or units in a property, as opposed to buying the whole thing alone. Also known as fractionalised real estate these companies are eliminating the dependency on the banks to make real estate transactions happen. Sun Villages is therefore part of something bigger than itself - a wider movement that is providing people with alternative ways to participate in the real estate and home ownership space. In the next newsletter in the new year, I'll let someone else explain in more detail the benefits of buying shares or units in real estate rather than real estate itself - through comparing the Sun Villages offer with buying a home or unit in the same area.------------------------------------------------------------

Other Sun Villages News.

Self managed super funds. 4 people recently joined together and formed a simple self-managed super fund to invest in Sun Villages. From what I heard it was much simpler and easier to do (with the help of an accountant with this expertise) than what the video at the ATO describes. So, for the next newsletter early next year, I will get one of these people to explain how and why they did this, to ensure this information is shared with all.

BCorp Certification. Sun Villages has been pre-qualified to become a Bcorp, which is something like an organic or fair trade stamp. If we proceed with and complete the process, it will make Sun Villages more transparent and let others know how and why we are an ethical company. It will also plug us into a network of other businesses who want to make a social impact. The process will be discussed at the next management meeting and a decision will be made sometime next year.

While the weather is hot and warm I'd like to do some more "Mud Fun" activities and add to the outdoor "kitchen" space that we have started. The cool clay mud is more soothing to the touch during the summer, and it dries hard quicker too. Below are three options I have in mind for 2nd week of Jan or anytime in Feb. Let me know if you will be around for summer and would like to join me.

1. an afternoon musical mud stomp. 6-8 - barefoot mud stomping, live drumming, light refreshments afterwards. lighting up the new 'rocket stove" and making flat bread. 2. a weekend workshop - from morning till night - going over all the basic principles and techniques of unfired /sundried earthen masonry - cob, mud brick, adobe, rammed earth,poured earth, - foundation, walls, openings, plaster-render, finishing, clay and milk based paints. Begin designing, building and sculpting the Sun Villages outdoor kitchen BBQ area. Go into how the Mud Fun curriculum can be shared with the local community in a variety of ways such as a holiday program.3. a school holiday family program during the week. - parents invited and encouraged to to stay and join in with no obligation to stay if you'd rather not.